Across the Portal: Interference
Across the Portal: Interference is the first of a series of upcoming books. Interference centers on a girl named Kristen who is whisked into the Star Wars galaxy and finds herself a key role in the quest to destroy the evil Darth Mutialatus. The book features Yoda and a cast of newly exclusive characters including Kristen and B'en'jamin Thorrn as protagonists, and Yaxa, Marion, the Omnipotent One, Xerin Hedashield, and Darth Mutialatus. it is the fourth book of the DIT-Star Wars Universe. It was released on December 1, 2017. Plot summary A dorky teen named Kristen who didn't think she could amount to anything is suddenly transported to the Star Wars galaxy. She doesn't know how she got there or how to get home. However, she finds a Jedi Knight and a mysterious insurgent named Xerin Hedashield. They can help her, but only if she can learn to trust them. Soon enough, the girl who thought she was worthless suddenly finds herself a key role in battling unspeakable evils. Kristen means to return home as soon as possible...if she can survive Darth Mutialatus and the Dark Side of the Force. Synopsis Pilots of the Third Order, led by the ruthless Darth Mutialatus, invade Coruscant, breaching the patrol. A common girl named Kristen wakes up, having seen this in a vision making her think she's going crazy. Her parents were unable to raise her, so she lives with her neglectful and potentially violent grandmother, April. Kristen is friendless and uncared for at home. Kristen gradually became an awkward girl with poor social skills and she is frequently teased for her strange behavior and odd ideas on how to have a good time. Suddenly, she realizes it's the day of a field trip, and runs outside, disturbing April. Kristen climbs a pole with a booby trap to find her lost shoe. A disembodied voice beckons her to a mysterious place. Days later, Kristen touches a portal (likely by accident), whisking her into the Star Wars galaxy. Having no idea where she is, Kristen aimlessly walks through crowds amid the lower levels of Coruscant, surveying the surrounding people, including many non-humans, with suspicion. She thinks a hooded figure is following her, so she races off. There, she finds the Jedi Temple and a boy named B'en'jamin Thorrn. She follows him inside, not seeing any other options presented to her. In a private cell, Jedi Grandmaster Yoda chides B'en for being tardy before introducing himself to Kristen. He doesn't know why Kristen is where she is, but he does know of a fellow Jedi entrusted with a marble for which they can be identified. He gives Kristen a duplicate and tells her to seek her out, to obtain the answers she needs. Kristen realizes that the sooner she discovers what has happened to her, the sooner she can return to Earth. Before Kristen leaves, Yoda orders her to inform Thorrn that he is required to accompany her. Kristen heads downstairs and delivers the news. downstairs, she told Thorrn of the request. B'en'jamin sighs angrily, lamenting that Yoda's word is law and beckoning her upstairs to the landspeeders. Having made for a docking bay to get offworld, a friend gives them a ride to Naboo, where Thorrn leads Kristen to a football game. There, the two talk for a time, but Kristen has no idea why they're there. Suddenly, two Grabbers - Yaxa and Marion - ambush them with blasters, but Thorrn easily pulls himself and Kristen out of harm's way with a Force leap after grabbing Kristen's arm tightly. They overhear the Grabbers reporting their failure to Darth Mutialatus, the leader of the Third Order, confirming Thorrn's theory that they're being hunted down by spies. They also hear of a "Supreme Leader" that might be important in their lives. Kristen and Thorrn flee to an isolated field, as the latter is afraid that the Grabbers are part of a greater organization who wants both of them dead. While they are here, they are approached by a mysterious and beautiful woman in a covered speeder who introduces herself as Xerin Hedashield. Kristen is anxious to get down to business, but Thorrn is more conversational and shows her a Phrik necklace that once belonged to Darth Bane, a Sith Lord who lived centuries ago. While Xerin seems interested in hearing about its origin, Kristen interrupted and told her about the marble Master Yoda had given them. Xerin had acquired the other marble, meaning she was the individual they were supposed to seek out all along, only she found them first, not the other way around. Kristen is wary of her, but B'en'jamin climbs into the speeder at once. After she hesitates, she is surprised and indignant when Xerin flatters B'en causing the latter to blush. They arrive at Xerin's apartment, where Xerin insists on speaking with both of them separately. When the speeder comes to its third halt, Xerin nods to B'en to open the door and he does, revealing her bedroom. B'en describes it as cozy, with one side having curtains of concealment and the other having a television. After confirming this is her room, Xerin removes her traveling cloak (revealing her slightly immodest pajamas) and gets B'en and herself chocolate bars. With both individuals seated, Xerin correctly guesses that B'en is a Padawan Learner. B'en reveals that he is traveling with Kristen out of sheer reluctance, and Xerin in turn reveals that she knows how Kristen appeared in the Star Wars galaxy, something she feels he does not yet need to know. Xerin then interrogates B'en, wanting to know about the Chosen One who is allegedly destined to bring balance to the Force. B'en doesn't find this likely, though Xerin thinks otherwise, she can find no backup to this claim, so she drops the subject and they prepare to leave. B'en tells her a joke about space slugs and in turn, she tells him a joke about neebrays. They return, where Xerin leaves B'en in the playplace and takes Kristen to her room. Kristen is incredibly curious, so Xerin speaks to her fluently to explain everything she wants to know in a levelheaded way. Kristen learns that a failed experiment of St. Pyro's Center for Militarized Sciences intending to learn how to travel outside the galaxy has resulted in her abduction. She is alarmed that she has apparently communicated with the center's personnel, as she thought Star Wars was science fiction. Xerin says she is gravely mistaken (which is obvious by now) and points out that the leader of the laboratory beckoned her several times. She chides Kristen for not answering, who shrugs her off by asking what Pearians are. They are, it turns out, a great mystery. Kristen directly asks how to return to Earth, and Xerin tells her to go to the mysterious and all-powerful Omnipotent One. Kristen then heads back to the playplace on foot, where she tells B'en her next step is to locate the Omnipotent One, who knows just as little about the entity as Kristen does. Kristen starts to suspect that B'en "likes" Xerin, which he denies. Just then, Xerin calls their names and offers them the opportunity to spend the night with her. While B'en thinks this is too good to be true, Kristen only goes to avoid sleeping outside in a camp. The duo arrives on Dantooine. Here, Kristen finds herself a key role in the quest to destroy the evil Darth Mutialatus. They tell Yoda, but he demands for evidence before he can report the situation to the Jedi High Council. Leaving the Jedi Temple disheartened, Kristen and Thorrn are introduced to Ted, Teddy, and Theo, who introduce themselves as the Terrifying Triplets, who inadvertently remind them about the Omnipotent One by mentioning how astounding he is. B'en'jamin deduces that what lies on Dagobah fits Xerin's description, so they fly to the swamp planet at once. The Omnipotent One accepts them and tells them that to get Kristen to Earth, they must go to St. Pyro's Center for Militarized Sciences, as the facility's personnel has sent her to Coruscant. Kristen thanks him, and he offers her the chance to visit anytime, which she points out she couldn't do. The kids go to Geonosis at once, bound for St. Pyro's. Thorrn complains that the Omnipotent One had not given them any information they were not already aware of. In response, Kristen tells him that she stole into a small library in Xerin's apartment and uncovered that the leader of the center was named R'ockienc. Thorrn says he thought she didn't read, but Kristen admits that she reads every now and then of her own free will. Thorrn tells her that's not a bad thing, but then ten Grabbers converge upon them, led by the evil General Gore of the Third Order. Gore said they will be dead, but Thorrn replies smugly, leading Grabber X.1 to restrain him and explain that Darth Mutiliatus and the Supreme Leader agreed that it would be imprudent to send but two Grabbers. Thorrn asked why they never spoke the Supreme Leader's name, and yet they spoke the name of Mutiliatus freely. Grabber X.1 said he asked too many questions (though he had only asked one), and when he pointed this out, Grabber X.1 slapped his diaphragm. Grabber X.3 and Grabber X.4 circle around Kristen, ordering her to get up. Gore turned to Thorrn, but then Kristen elbowed one of her captors and Thorrn killed Grabber X.5 with his lightsaber. Grabber X.6 and Grabber X.7 brandished Phrik staffs and briefly dueled Thorrn. Then Grabber X.9 slapped Thorrn's back roughly. He turned around, but then X.7 slashed him in the groin. Thorrn got to his feet, but then he is forced to stop fighting when X.9 threatens to cut Kristen's throat. Kristen is shocked into silence upon realizing that Thorrn has finally weighed the value of her life and chosen to spare it rather than fleeing back to his home. And then Grabber X.10 orders that the weapons be retrieved. Gore smugly said the pack would "keep Master Mutialatus waiting no longer". The scene transitions to the grim fortress of Darth Mutiliatus. The Triplets attack the troopers. Amid the din, Kristen pins Cole to a wall and demands to know where the Supreme Leader is, to which Cole cryptically replies that she is in "the room where all is at peace". Thorrn sardonically thanks him before suddenly realizing how suspicious it is that he would disclose his mistress' whereabouts without a fight nor a motive. In response, Cole reveals that he has wanted to leave the Third Order for a while, but merely quitting had not been an option for him. Therefore, he offered them his assistance in destroying the Supreme Leader once and for all. Cole leads them to the sixth floor and the door of the bedroom of Xerin Hedashield. Cole points out that killing the Supreme Leader will require them to create a strategy, but then a red-bladed lightsaber emerges from the center of his torso. Shocked and overcome by agonizing pain, Cole falls to the ground in front of Hedashield. With Cole down and mortally wounded, his attacker de-cloaks, thus revealing that he had been secretly watching them the entire time. B'en, furious at Xerin's sarcastic sense of regret, challenges her to a duel while Darth Mutialatus watches. In response, Xerin reaches under her pillow and grabs a blaster concealed under it. Standing up, she poses, ready to fight. Before the duel can begin, however, Cole uses his powers to teleport the children away from the apartment and to safety, as they have learned all they can without dying to superior forces. Cole falls dead without another sound. Furious, Hedashield watches as the kids twist out of the window. Just then, General Gore arrives in the room. Mutialatus reports what is obvious: the children have escaped and they have lost their Captain for good. Xerin doubts B'en is the Chosen One, though she secretly remains determined to seduce him. She looks directly at Mutialatus, her face betraying her utter disappointment that the children had escaped right in front of him. She swears she will punish him when the setting is ripe. Now that the Third Order is public knowledge, she knows she can hire more able soldiers without fear of exposure or disloyalty. With this thought cheering her up slightly, she tells the Dark Lord of her Holonet campaign to find him an apprentice, saying that several have volunteered and that she in particular is impressed with Thomas Slovak. She arranges to work alongside Mutialatus (she usually shuts herself in her room). His back turned, he claims that the Third Order is ready to prove to the Jedi Order that they exist. Xerin contradicts him, revealing to General Gore that she is no Sith Lord, but a woman whose knowledge of the Force is rather extensive, and claiming that the time to expose their conquest will come soon. While she is living happily on Earth, Kristen then writes a book of their adventures, which is then revealed to be the book itself. In the Post-Script, and on the orders of Xerin Hedashield, Supreme Leader of the Third Order, the Dark Lord Darth Mutialatus went to Alderaan intending to prevent any future forging of weaponry. Mutialatus forced its inhabitants to forge several war machines and then he proceeded to torture an officer for the whereabouts of the X-Crystal, who claimed not to know where it was. Mutialatus told him his reward was his life, before using a powerful Dark side technique to wipe out virtually three quarters of the planet without leaving the room. Mutialatus then used the Force to summon the Crystal they sought, before remarking to his assistant that they now had one of the Crystals in their possession, and only needed the remaining three. Rating Across the Portal: Interference was rated PG-13 "for frightening images and brief strong language". Appearances Category:Books Category:PG-13 rated books 1 Category:2017 books Category:DIT-Star Wars Universe books